Stargirl of the Edge

Ch 8 - The Secrets of Science

This is the last of the three chapters that are accompanied with a video - Chapters 6, 7 and 8 respectively. The video is further down the page on the right. Try playing it as you read and observe the differences! Chapter 8 is a significant chapter, the exposition of the story is now complete. Only another 60 chapters to go until the final chapter, Chapter 68! 

It seemed as if Esther had been expecting Olivia to ask her ‘Where did you come from? How did you get here?’ and her mood and manner of speaking changed. She continued, as if reading from a script. Eerie, atmospheric music accompanied her words.

“I come from Xia Men, China”

As if in slow motion, performing a ritual, she rocked her head, her eyes glowed and she raised her hands, moving them upwards towards the bubble. Inside it appeared an old drawing of the city of Xia Men. As she spoke, her words, written in Chinese characters, appeared beneath each picture. Olivia gazed into the bubble and Jessie, sitting by her side, gazed too.

“We came in a boat, a junk that can fly in the sky, and travel in time.”

Olivia saw a magnificent Chinese sailing boat, a traditional style junk with brightly coloured flags. It floated from between the clouds, high over the sea.

“With my colleagues,” she continued, “the crew, and my father, the Captain.”

An image of an ancient Chinese man with a long moustache appeared in the bubble. He was wearing the traditional costume of a Chinese seafarer of high rank.

Olivia listened and watched as Jing Jing continued her story. Jessie looked round when she heard a noise coming from nearby, but then looked back into the bubble, tilting her head to one side

“We are explorers, scientists. I am interested in Biology.”

A drawing of a plant appeared, in the style of a Biology text book. The drawing took shape before her eyes, and was finished off with the name of the plant in both English and Chinese.

“We travelled all over the world, from a long time in the past…”

The junk passed over the heads of dinosaurs in a landscape of prehistoric canyons and volcanoes.

“...to far into the future.”

Now the junk had ascended into low Earth orbit, and was floating higher and higher against a black, starry cosmos. Clearly visible some miles ahead was the International Space Station.

“Our journey was nearly finished.”

There was a view of the harbour of Xia Men at dusk. The junk appeared through the clouds, floating lower and lower. It looked magnificent, decked out with festive Chinese lanterns, each with a flickering flame inside.

“We were floating above the harbour…”

Olivia felt seasick as now, the view was looking directly down onto the junk from above, with the dark waters of the harbour  below. It was filled with lots of tiny boats each one lit up with a flame or lantern.

“…waiting in the sky…”

Now the view was from the waterfront, with the magnificent sight of the junk floating just below the level of the clouds.

“...getting ready to come down.”

The view switched to the deck of the junk. Crew members dressed in traditional Chinese sailors outfits tugged at ropes and shouted instructions each other in an incomprehensible dialect of Chinese. After a pause, Esther continued her story.

“All the people of Xia Men came out to greet us.”

The view moved to the waterfront again. There were huge crowds, many wearing traditional Chinese hats. They were shouting and cheering excitedly, gazing up in wonder at the magnificent sight above them.